Maxwell School News and Commentary

“The idea that you’d use political coercion to bind countries, or bind market actors within countries, to use the currency is not how the dollar ascended to this place in the first place,” says Daniel McDowell, professor of political science. “If that’s what’s needed to maintain dollar dominance, that shows there’s a real fundamental problem with the economic appeal.”

“Young people are actually excited about this election. They're excited to vote, but they are very confused. They don't know exactly what to do because they feel so strongly about particular issues...so although they are excited, they're not sure what that means for them in the future,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

“I think a lot of young people have been waiting to hear the same thing probably for the past few years as they have in the past few weeks, which is a really clear stance on what lies ahead for the folks who are most vulnerable in the United States,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

Devashish Mitra, Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs, says India Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn't been able to live up to his jobs promises due to stagnating exports, the slow implementation of labor reforms and insufficient education and training for new workers. 

“There is really a lot of interest right now in ensuring that folks who are not typically tapped into the mainstream of electoral politics, that they are getting excited about this election. …They're reaching out to folks who I believe that they think may come back into the fold with them,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

“He drew into question so many people's backgrounds and identities that he ended up alienating so many groups of people who you would think he would've gone to the NABJ conference to actually bring under his umbrella to vote for him,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

In our most recent GenForward poll, “what they actually said [was most important to them] was income inequality and economic growth. It seems that what we saw four years ago has really shifted for young voters and they're more concerned now with how they're going to have economic longevity,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

“Now this is where we reached this impasse where if we really want to totally restructure the grid, totally grow it in ways that can serve decarbonization, and AI...then perhaps this sort of more integrated, more central planning, more coordinated and socialized investment model could be more useful than this very scattered and sort of fragmented system we have now,” says Matt Huber, professor of geography and the environment.

California, the world’s fifth largest economy, “just leapfrogged over everyone” through legislation that became law last month that requires companies to start reporting carbon emissions from the energy used for operations and outputs beginning in 2026, says Jay Golden, Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability and Finance.